Conversations: Relaxation
by winter s. jameson
Summary: Just a little conversation between two friends as they take some time to relax away from work...


_Here's the second in my Conversations series. It's good to see there are people liking this so far - does an author good. So here we go with part two. Enjoy, and feel free to let me know what you think!_

* * *

"So this is the fourth annual fair at the hotel?"

"Yeah. They used to hold it in Central Park, but they got too many people hassling them. I was talking with Bob Williams, the director, last year, and he was saying that their repeat attendees numbers have been going up since the move."

"Well, I guess that's a good thing then. How many do you think are genuine?"

"Is that why you're going? To check them out?"

"No! You asked me to go; that's why I'm here."

"So that's _not_ a PKE meter I see in your pocket?"

"Well..."

"Men!"

"Oh, come on, Janine, can you really blame me? This could be really neat, and we've been wondering if there's any way we can use the meters to pick up the use of psychic abilities for years now."

"I did not ask you along so you could conduct an experiment. I figured you out of everybody would be able to just go to a psychic fair and not treat it like another day at work."

"It's not! _I'm_ not! I promise!" The husky redhead grabbed the petite woman before she could completely storm off and turned her to face him. "If it bothers you that much, I won't use it. I mean it. Your happiness means more than a bunch of readings I can get anytime. I mean, there are other psychic fairs, right?" His large brown eyes shone with sincerity.

No one could hold a grudge for long under that gaze. Janine found herself relaxing, even smiling, as she responded. "Right, Ray. There are more psychic fairs. Now, we should keep going or we'll be late for the eleven o'clock raffle. I think they're giving away a cooler full of scented candles."

Ray laughed as he released his fellow redhead and continued along with her. "That sounds like just your thing, Janine. Perfect for your apartment."

"Hey, it's not my fault my neighbor has one too many cats."

"Have you talked to your manager?"

"I'd have better luck asking Peter for a raise. And don't even mention the owner. I'm not sure he even speaks English." She scowled at the thought of the man, fiercely pushing her dark blue-rimmed glasses into place. "Foreign landlords. The bane of my existence."

"Have you thought about moving? We'd be willing to help..."

"I know. But I have a few more important things to think about saving for before I worry about that. Once my financial situation is a little more settled I just may take you up on that offer, though."

"Any time, Janine."

"Thanks, Ray." With a short laugh and a huge smile, Janine wrapped her arms around Ray's right one as the pair continued on to the psychic fair. 

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, Ray glanced at the top of the head that was now resting against his shoulder as they kept going toward the hotel. "If you're tired we can always flag down a taxi," he said gently.

Janine merely shook her head. "I'd rather walk."

"That's fine, too." The brown eyes took in the contemplative air about his companion before continuing. "Is there something wrong, Janine?"

She shrugged. "Not really."

"Come on. You can tell me."

She raised her head slowly, her normally bright blue eyes a bit watery as they focused on the man next to her. "I... I was just thinking of something. Something I've been trying not to think of."

Ray's eyes widened in alarm. "What is it?"

"My sister Marcia. I never told you guys, but... about fifteen years ago she was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease. My mother called a couple days ago and told me she's out of remission again. Chemotherapy starts on Monday." Her head dropped once again, causing her bangs to fall over her eyes, shielding them.

The man's breath caught. "Oh, Janine, I'm so sorry. Do you want Monday off? I'm sure even Peter will understand if you do..."

"No, Ray. I can't do anything for her while she's there, and it hurts her to let us see her when she's weakened like this. I'll visit her on Tuesday when she's gotten back a bit of her strength, and everything will be okay. And don't tell the others. I'll do it myself when I'm ready."

"Okay, Janine..."

She somehow managed a smile for this sensitive man she was fortunate enough to call a friend. "I'll be okay, Ray. I promise. And I know if I won't I have four great guys I can count on to help get me that way. The Endless remind me of that every morning."

"What can I do to help now?"

Her smile widened. "Just be here, be Ray. Help me have a good time today so I can relax and get my mind off of my troubles for a while. That's the best thing I can think of."

Ray returned the expression and pulled his arm free of hers, adjusting it so it rested across her shoulders. Janine took advantage of the shift in position and snuggled in close and put her arm around his waist. "Consider it done. One good time today coming up, Stantz style." They both laughed.

"You've definitely been hanging around Peter too long," the secretary said through a snicker.

He shrugged. "Maybe so, but it's still true." He stopped them in their tracks as he spotted something. "We've still got time to make the fair in time for the raffle, right?"

She looked at up at him, confused. "Yeah, about fifteen minutes or so to spare. Why?"

"You'll see." With that he bounced off, leading the both of them toward a small white cart rolling along the street ahead of a tired-looking man dressed all in white to match.

When they reached the vendor, Ray smiled at the tinkling music coming from the small, cheap speakers in the front of the wheeled contraption. "Triple scoop sugar cone of chocolate, please," he said cheerfully, grinning widely.

"Ice cream?" Janine said incredulously before beginning to smile herself. "Um, double scoop plain cone of blue moon," she requested when the Good Humor man turned a questioning gaze on her.

"Comin' right up, folks," he said lightheartedly, his Brooklyn accent even thicker than Janine's. Ray handed over the money when they had gotten their frozen treats, and they turned to leave with a hearty thanks. "Anytime, folks. And you guys make a real cute couple."

The man took off his black-brimmed hat to scratch his head at the hysterical laughter his comment produced. 

* * *

The pair had just gotten the hotel in sight when something else grabbed the occultist's attention. "Oh, hey, let's go there quick!" he exclaimed, dragging the woman still in the crook of his arm along with him. They had stopped three other times already, twice to talk to small children who had recognized Ray from the news reports about the Ghostbusters' exploits and once to listen to a bird finish its trilling song.

"Oh, come on, Ray. We're almost to the hotel!"

"This'll be quick - and fun!"

Her blue eyes widened as they paused at the gate of the small park they had nearly walked by. "Wait for it," she muttered fondly under her breath.

"See? This is great!"

"Bingo." She looked up affectionately at the excited redheaded man who squeezed her comfortingly. Only Ray Stantz would get this excited about taking a friend to a petting zoo. "Let's do it, Ray. Then we can get to the fair and see what they have to offer."

"Right."

The two of them stepped inside, one tolerantly, the other exuberantly, bouncing the entire way. 

* * *

"Oh, he's so _cute_!" Janine exclaimed as she scritched a small lamb between the ears.

Ray grinned as he gazed down at the kneeling woman. He glanced at his watch and started, his smile dropping. "Uh, Janine, I'm sorry."

She turned her head up to look at him. "What for?"

"It's ten after eleven. We missed the raffle."

The secretary chuckled as the little creature nudged her hand to keep her scritching. She did. "Don't worry about it, Ray. We'll just catch the next one. They're giving away a picnic basket full of incense at noon." 

* * *

They wandered around the psychic fair for a couple hours, casually examining the various booths and the wares offered therein. Everything from power crystals to so-called divine artifacts were being sold in the large ballroom-turned-exhibit-hall. "You know, it was really nice of them to hold onto that picnic basket for you until you leave," Ray commented as they started their fourth lap around the booths.

"Helps when you make friendly with the people that run the show."

He smirked. "And you say _I've_ been hanging around with Peter lately."

"Oh, shush." She gave him a light grin as she punched his arm.

The occultist returned her expression with a chuckle, then pointed at a curtained-off room on the left side of the hall. "We haven't gone in there yet. What is it?"

Janine sighed. "You had to go and notice, didn't you?" she said with mock annoyance. "That's the 'science' room. You guys have made the supernatural acceptable, so the rumors go around New York at any rate, because you have valid scientific theories to back you up, theories that scientists from other fields are beginning to grudgingly at least take into consideration as possible. So a group of wanna-bes are trying to follow in your footsteps. Always makes me think of a junior high science fair myself."

Ray reached into the pocket of his jacket and briefly fingered the PKE meter hiding there before pulling his hand out and away from temptation. He did promise Janine... "Why don't we check it out? It should be entertaining to see how many wrong ideas these people have come up with. Hey, maybe someone has something we could use." He seriously doubted it, considering the level of quality of the rest of the vendors here, but anything was possible. It might even be fun.

"Well, all right. But watch the shop talk. We're supposed to be here for relaxation, remember?"

"Of course." Ray grinned at her.

Janine chuckled and shook her head as she led the way to the curtained off room.

Ray looked around once they stepped through the doorway, taking in where the exhibits were and the surprising amount of people wandering around. After the once-over, Ray found himself reluctantly coming to the same conclusion as his secretary - it looked like a junior high science fair. The subjects of study seemed about that mentality, that was certain. _He_ had better theories in grade school.

Janine glanced at her companion, smothering a grin at the disapproval written on his features. "Why don't we take our little tour and get this over with?"

Her comment brought Ray back to the present. "Oh, right, sure. Let's go."

The pair strolled around casually, ignoring the muttered comments from people who obviously recognized Ray and weren't happy with a real expert being in their midst. _It's real hard to sell your crackpot theories when there's someone who can debunk the things in fifteen seconds flat for a hundred different reasons_, Janine thought as she paused at one booth to look at a pair of hamsters in a cage on one of the tables. She felt Ray turn to face the exhibit on the opposite side of the aisle.

His gasp made her stand and spin to face him. "What is it?" she asked in a concerned undertone, taking into consideration the company they were in.

"That!" he exclaimed in a choked whisper, pointing at the table he had been looking at.

"'The Effects of Negative Reinforcement on ESP Ability'," she read aloud from the banner strung across the back space divider before taking a look at the actual set-up of the booth. "I don't get it."

Ray maneuvered her back against the table that held the hamsters before responding in a fierce whisper. "Take a look at that equipment, the way he's got his little experiment set up. Talk about a flashback! That's Peter's!"

She blinked in confusion. "What?"

"Right before we got kicked out of Columbia Peter was running that exact same experiment for a paper he planned on writing. He probably would have done better if he hadn't been constantly hitting on the female subjects, but that's beside the point. He did have _some_ real data to work with. Anyway, Dean Yeager confiscated all of our equipment, and this is obviously what he did with it." Ray scowled in the direction of the offending booth.

"What? Are you saying he sold Peter's unfinished notes?" Janine's expression was filled with outrage. Dr. V may be a pain in the backside, but there was a good man underneath it all, and that man deserved better than that.

"I don't know about that, but I _do_ know that's the machine he used."

"How do you know?"

"There should be a logo on the left side marking it as property of Columbia University. Peter scratched off a bunch of the letters when he was bored one afternoon waiting for the next round of subjects. It definitely made it distinctive."

"Which letters did he scratch off? What did he leave behind?"

Ray gave her a tight smile. "It says 'mine'."

A snicker escaped her lips - that was most definitely a very Peter-like modification - but she sobered quickly. "I know it has to hurt that the dean got rid of all your old stuff..."

"Without even giving us a chance to buy it back!"

"...but it was the university's to do with as they wanted. There's nothing you can do."

Ray sighed. "That's mostly true, but we paid for a lot of stuff ourselves. We had a grant, true, but there's no way it could cover everything we wanted to do. That's when Egon and I found out just how good Peter was at money-grubbing. We rarely had to even think about how we got some of the electronics we used for some of our experiments. I didn't even find out until a few years after the fact how many strings Peter pulled on a regular basis to keep our sub-department running." He smiled fondly in remembrance. "He even picked up a second job for a little while. But don't tell him you know about that. He doesn't even know that _I_ know."

A dainty eyebrow rose at that. "I'm not sure I even want to know _what_ that second job was," she said suspiciously, although Ray could hear the affection underlying the words.

"Probably not," he agreed. "My point is, though, that I know that little device was something Peter bought on his own. He didn't raise a fuss because of the termination of the grant and the fact that we were busy starting the business, but I think it's always bugged all of us that we couldn't have at least kept what we paid for ourselves. And Dean Yeager sold it to the highest bidder!"

Janine took a closer look at the flushed man in front of her. "What's really your problem, Ray? You had to have known they were going to do this, at least with the stuff they couldn't use in other departments. What's eating you?"

Brown eyes darkened with unhappiness as he glanced at the woman standing with her arms crossed before him. "Come on, let's walk."

They wandered to one of the back corners that was relatively unpopulated. "Okay, we walked. What's up?" Janine kept a sharp gaze on her friend.

Ray sighed and leaned back against the wall. "Do you remember that academic dinner we were all invited to a couple months ago? The one with speakers Egon and I were so excited about?"

The secretary's brows creased in confusion. "Well, yeah. Turned out Egon couldn't go because that was the only time his mother could call to arrange some of the details of the sale of the house in Ohio. What about it?"

"You know I went by myself that night. The speakers were good, and afterward I was mingling and I came across Dean Yeager. He hadn't seen me and I turned away slightly so he wouldn't notice. I never much cared for him after the way he seemed to enjoy us getting kicked out of Columbia. Anyway, he was talking to a small group of scientists about a few things, and somehow we came up. Janine, you wouldn't believe what he said about us. And there were some pretty derogatory comments about you and Winston, too. I never realized how much he didn't like us, how much he didn't believe in what we were doing."

"Let me guess. Peter buffered you from it, huh?"

"Probably. All I was worried about was the science. And when I saw Peter's gizmo it just reminded me of everything. Yeager was purposefully spreading some pretty wicked rumors about us, and it really hurt." Ray's gaze dropped to the floor and his shoulders slumped.

Janine reached out and took his hands gently. "Ray, what did those other scientists look like when Yeager was saying those things? Did they look like they believed him?"

The occultist blinked at that. "No," he replied, surprised. "Actually they didn't. In fact, they changed the subject pretty fast, and a couple of them made excuses to leave."

"Well, I think that says it all for that. He didn't hurt your reputation. Although I can understand that it would hurt to have him saying those things at all. I wouldn't mind popping him in the nose a few times." Ray couldn't help but laugh at that. "But no matter what, you know he's a small-minded pansy who's too full of himself for his own good and his opinion doesn't really count for much. Don't let his pettiness get you down. You're better than that."

Ray smiled at the encouragement. "Thanks, Janine. You're right. Although I'm sorry to unload like this when you have your own problems."

"Don't be," she said dismissively. "You're my friend, and I like helping out when I can. Besides, keeps my mind _off_ of my problems, which is the whole objective for today anyway. Are you okay now?"

"Yeah, I am, thanks to you." He glanced at his watch. "What time did you want to get going?"

"Pretty soon," she said, mirroring his gesture. "But I was hoping to get you guys something from here. There's no way I can compete with _your_ gifts, but I figured a little something would be nice."

Ray thought about it for a moment, letting his eyes wander around the smaller room where all the "scientific" displays had been gathered. They settled on a smaller, unimposing exhibit in the far corner, and a smile slowly touched his lips. "Come with me," he said, excitement once again in his tone. "I think I have an interesting solution to your problem."

"Okay," Janine said, confused. Well, the rest of day had gone well following Ray's impulses...

They made their way over to the display, where a taller man with darker brown hair and a mustache was double checking a few connections on an electronic device with a pair of electrodes plugged into it. He straightened at their approach, adjusting his white lab coat and smiling. "Ah, Doctor Stantz. A pleasure to see you again."

"Doctor Schneider! I wasn't expecting to see you here! Why?"

The bulky man winked at the pair, his eyes lingering a bit longer on Janine's feminine form. "Cheap subjects. It's the age-old lesson we all picked up in college: free is good. Something I can do for you?"

"I think so." The engineer turned to his companion. "You know, Egon is expecting me to come home with some readings from the fair."

Janine's blue eyes narrowed dangerously. "You promised, Ray."

"Yeah, I did, but that's not what I was talking about." He dug his wallet out of his back pocket and pulled out the pictures he kept there. "Sit down and let Jeff hook his machine up to you. I'll show you some pictures and we'll see what the results are. And if Jeff will give us copies, you may have your presents yet." He smiled at the two people starting at him. "That okay with everybody?"

The corners of the other scientist's mouth began twitching upward. "Sure, Ray. That should be fine. Like I said, I'm in this for the free subjects."

Janine looked skeptical. "I'm not gonna get zapped, am I?" Ray's grin turned mischievous and he leaned in and whispered in the woman's ear. She began to smile in return. "I get it now. Okay, I'm in. Let's do it." 

* * *

A half hour later the pair was walking out of the hotel with a pile of papers in hand along with a picnic basket full of incense. "The man was a bit of a lech, Ray," Janine commented with a distasteful turn to her lips.

"Jeff just likes his redheads. Always has. Women, of course," he quickly clarified, as he saw Janine's eyes go wide. "But the science is valid."

"We'll just have to see what the others say, now won't we?"

"Yeah, although I don't know why you won't let me see mine. I know what the machine was supposed to be reading after all."

"Yeah, but it's the results that are the presents." She paused and looked at the redheaded man walking beside her contemplatively. "One last thing about Yeager. I want you to remember something. It's true the man didn't like you, and didn't believe in what you were researching. But you're getting your revenge every day without even trying. Ghostbusters, Inc. is a successful business, and you guys are minor celebrities, not to mention world-class heroes. You're everything he didn't think you could be. Don't dwell on a man who's a sore loser. He's not worth it. Who knows? Maybe you'll even get to bust a ghost for him sometime, and really get to rub it in his face." She grinned wickedly, a brief evil chuckle escaping her lips.

Ray laughed. "You're right. I won't let it bother me anymore. It just hurt at the time, that's all. But like I said, the speakers were good. Egon really enjoyed the audio tapes I brought home, too."

"So that's what he was listening to in the lab the next day. I wasn't in there long so I didn't hear much, but it sounded odd."

"You must have caught part of Stavinski's speech. He has an interesting accent."

"Maybe so. I just thought it was some more of that weird music Egon listens to every now and again. I heard he was shopping through the international music section at the book store right around that time, so I couldn't be sure."

"He did that last week, too." The redheaded man shuddered. "Don't remind me of what he bought." The two of them laughed and continued on their way back to the firehouse. 

* * *

"Oh, good. You're all in one place."

Peter, Egon, and Winston turned from their respective places in the third floor lab to look at the latest arrivals and smiled. "So, get your fortunes told? How sugary sweet and flowery is the future?" the psychologist asked sarcastically from his lounging position on the battered couch.

"Actually, we just had normal conversations with most of the psychics we talked to," Ray said from the doorway before stepping inside and joining Egon at the large desk across the room.

"And the rest?" Winston asked from his seat at the computer against the adjacent wall.

"Gave us cavities," Janine confirmed with a smirk and quick wink in Peter's direction. He pretended not to notice, which is exactly what she intended.

"Then I hope you guys brushed your teeth when you got home. We don't want to have to schedule any dentist appointments early for either of you," Peter quipped, his green eyes sparkling.

Ray chuckled while Janine started making the rounds of the room, handing each of the men a piece of paper with some numbers and strange lines at the top above a picture of the secretary with an odd aura surrounding her. She seemed to be looking at something off to the side of the camera very intently.

"What in the world is this?" Winston asked, thoroughly bewildered.

"I can second that," Peter agreed.

"It's an aura reading of some sort," Egon commented after taking an extra moment to examine the printout he held. "However, I can't determine the precise results."

"Hey, my name's on top with yours, Janine!" Peter blurted, surprised. "What's going on?"

"We stopped at a booth so I could pick up some presents for you clowns. Figured what the heck." The redheaded woman smiled smugly at the confusion she saw in three out of the four faces.

"My friend Doctor Jeff Schneider had set up his latest invention at the fair, so I suggested Janine use it to get the gifts she wanted. It reads the aura and analyzes it to determine the emotions of the subject. I showed her pictures of each of us, letting the machine read how she feels about us. We're holding the results." He cocked his head to the side as he looked at his own. "Although I'm not sure I'm getting this."

Janine laughed. "Well, when you guys figure it out, let me know. I'm going to go finish up a little paperwork, go home, and enjoy the rest of my day off. Have fun, guys!" She caught Ray's eye and mouthed, "Thanks for today." With another laugh she left for the lower floors.

They all blinked at the now empty spot in the doorway. "Well, Spengs," Peter said after a moment. "Are you getting anything from this?"

"I have determined that this machine doesn't use the standard color code traditionally associated with the reading of auras. It may take me a while to decode the results, but I believe it can be done."

The brown-haired man looked at the other two men as he stood. "You guys have anything?"

"Don't look at me," Winston said hurriedly. "This isn't my bag."

"Maybe eventually, but not now," Ray said with a shrug. "It's been a long day."

"Fair enough." Peter then went around and snatched those two printouts and, along with his own, slapped them down in front of the still-absorbed Spengler. "Here you go, Spengs. When you figure out exactly how Janine feels about us, let us know. We're gonna watch a movie."

"Aren't you interested in figuring this out for yourself, Peter?" the blond physicist asked, eyebrow raised.

"What, and disrupt the status quo? Take away your fun? Nah. Besides, if I know you, we'll get an hour-long lecture when you figure it out anyway. I can wait for the wrap-up. I don't think we need a machine to tell us the most important stuff anyway."

"What's that, Peter?" Ray asked.

"That we got one special lady working for us, someone who can somehow find it in her to put up with us and our crap. I doubt we could find anyone else out there like that." Peter smiled fondly as he gazed after the long-gone secretary. After a moment the expression turned impish. "Especially for the money we pay her. She's good for the budget."

"Peter!" the other three man reprimanded, Ray and Winston dragging him off to the second floor and Egon shaking his head as he watched them go.

Once they were gone, the physicist turned back to the puzzle Janine had left them. As he looked over the four sheets of paper, he realized, as he was sure the other two did as well, that Peter was right. Janine was definitely a special lady and they didn't need a printout to tell them that. He would still decipher the readings before him, but he was sure they would just confirm what they all knew already, that Janine was just as much a vital part of the team as any of the rest of them, with the feelings that went along with it. All she had done was give them confirmation of that fact.

And so with that thought in mind, Egon, as well as the rest of the team, relaxed and lost himself in his chosen leisure time activity, content with how the day had turned out and the world in general. Yes, they were quite the team indeed.

The End (for now...)


End file.
